How An Average College Freshman Became An Internet Celebrity In Just 6 Seconds

Sunday

Mar 30, 2014 at 9:01 PM

Caroline Moss

Logan Paul just wants to eat at Chipotle in peace.

That's what the 18-year-old told me, jokingly, of course, as is his nature. His dreams of burrito solitude are futile, though, because Logan Paul is not your average college freshman.

Paul is what you'd call "big on Vine" — the video-sharing app owned by Twitter. It launched a little more than a year ago, and its main brag is that it loops your 6-second clips.

While regular folks like you and me may have used it once or twice to get some footage of the family dog or a train ride home, it was immediately somewhat of a dream medium for sketch comedians of the world like Paul, who now has 2.7 million faithful followers.

He is currently the No. 13 most-followed "Viner." He says it sometimes takes him up to 5 hours to create the perfect 6-second clip.

This is the kind of stuff you'll see on Paul's Vine page:

Now, he's up for a huge award — Univision's Vineographer — in the Shorty Awards, a Web-based awards show that recognizes people making it big across Internet platforms.

Also up for the same award? His younger brother, Jake.

"Our parents are really proud," Paul told Business Insider. "They definitely didn't get it at first, but now they're like 'OK, yeah. This is cool.'"

Paul told us that he's always had a knack for making people laugh. When he was 11, he began making YouTube videos. But Paul says Vine is the best place for him.

"I love it," he said. "It forces me to be creative. You have a time limit. It's more of a challenge."

It's not hard to be charmed by the well-spoken teenager. He's warm and easy-going. Almost anything anyone says makes him laugh. But this is the kind of personality you'd need to succeed in such a public-performance venue.

Paul is now a well-known figure around the Ohio University campus in Athens, Ohio, and he says he loves getting other people in on the joke.

"A lot of people want to get involved, so thinking up Vines that require crowds is always good," he says. "But I've definitely gotten tweets before that were like, 'Just saw Logan Paul shooting a Vine and ran in the other direction!' so it's not for everyone."

"I've never gotten in trouble for [Vining]," he adds.

One of his most popular bits is "getting into strangers' cars."

Take a look:

He's also a brand's dream.

This past February, the engineering student was chosen by Pepsi for a Vine-based advertising campaign to promote the Super Bowl halftime show, featuring Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Over Thanksgiving, he was booked for an appearance with the anchors of the "Today Show," which also allowed him to take over the show’s Vine account for the morning. He created Vines with Matt Lauer and Al Roker.

"The branding stuff is really fun," Paul tells Business Insider. "I would never take a [promotional job] to Vine something that wouldn't make sense on my page."

Indeed, Paul is true to himself. He tells us he rarely parties, and is "kind of a nerd," choosing to spend most of his time balancing school, weightlifting, and Vining.

As for the future, Paul says he's just living his life one day at a time.

"I'd love to entertain people forever," he said. "I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities Vine has given me."

He says he's looking forward to the Shorty's, and is humbled to be nominated for the Univision Vineographer award.

When we reminded him his brother could win it all, Paul, of course, just laughed.

"It could make for a really awkward Christmas next year," he chuckled.

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